Research project International Crimes within the Swedish Legal Framework

Over the past decade, Swedish courts have increasingly seen trials regarding so-called international crimes – i.e., severe violations of international law that often go unpunished. These have involved war crimes and genocide related to conflict zones in different parts of the world.

The handling of these international crimes inevitably involves an interplay between, on the one hand, national criminal law rules and, on the other hand, international law. When interpreting Swedish criminal provisions, the body of international law needs to be considered. This is a material that is otherwise alien to criminal law and appears in sources outside the Swedish legal system.

The project addresses the question of how this material should be delimited; to what extent Swedish or international rules should be applied when accountability for crimes is examined. Another objective is to systematize and make this complex material accessible to the Swedish legal practitioner.